I guess I'm lost as to why being friends with some of you AA members is weird.If you find the right group you're likely to find party going people who used to like to drink just as much as you did.
Someone in one of my AA meetings said it best that, we aren't there because we don't want to drink we are there because we LOVE to drink, but can't function in our lives that way.
It is hard in the beginning to be around others that drink. My husband BREWS HIS OWN BEER for goodness sake. But he isn't the one with the drinking problem I am. If I could stop at two or even three beers then I could sit in the backyard and drink and enjoy all of his hard work. I'm not wired that way, one beer leads to the next then the next then I'm dying for something stronger. Anyways this is really long and drawn out to say, yes refraining from drinking right now seems like you are missing out on all the fun and excitement but what I have read from others is that it gets easier and you start to enjoy other things just as much. If your friends aren't calling you because they are worried that you might drink and drive, then maybe that's the reward you focus on is being alive and quitting before getting into an accident.
Like others said try and change your prospective and find other things that interest you that you wouldn't have been able to do during your drinking days.